Helpful Score: 3
Guinevere Beck walks into a small bookstore and encounters and flirts with Joe, the man who runs the store. They have a conversation about books and flirt a little. Joe becomes obsessed with wanting to know more about "Beck". He finds her on social media, finds out where she lives and really begins stalking her.
This is scary. What is even scarier than the story is that you kind of like Joe. This is written in second person perspective, so Joe is the guy. Obsession is his game. He goes a little far in some cases.
Well written and pulls you right in with the writing.
This is scary. What is even scarier than the story is that you kind of like Joe. This is written in second person perspective, so Joe is the guy. Obsession is his game. He goes a little far in some cases.
Well written and pulls you right in with the writing.
Joe Goldberg works in a bookstore in New York. One day, a gorgeous girl walks into his store, and Joe is immediately transfixed. She charms Joe in their brief encounter and so he searches for the name he saw when he swiped her credit card. He lucks out, easily finding Guinevere Beck all over the Internet. In fact, she seems to live a great deal of her life publicly on Facebook and Twitter, allowing Joe to digitally watch her from afar. But quickly, Joe begins to actually watch "Beck," as he learns she is called: hiding outside her apartment and eventually arranging a chance encounter. Beck and Joe's lives quickly become entwined, as Joe becomes more and more obsessed with his perfect girl. Beck thinks Joe could be the ideal boyfriend, and he's determined to be just that: no matter what it takes.
Oh my, I have some mixed feelings about this book, but ultimately wound up rating it 4 stars simply because I just couldn't put it down, and I don't think I will stop thinking about it anytime soon. I actually found myself feeling suspicious of other people during and after reading it, as if being watched -- that's how good Kepnes was at weaving her tale of stalking and obsession. Joe is a fascinating character, and you become almost immediately sucked into his delusions. The book is told from his point of view, and it's written as if he's speaking directly to Beck. Once you become used to that, it's compulsively readable.
This is not a book full of characters with whom you will love and empathize. Now I admit that there were times that Joe felt so normal that you forgot he's basically batshit insane, and sometimes Beck herself (the victim, you have to remind yourself) is pretty terrible, too. This is a book about awful people doing terrible things to everyone in their lives. It's dirty (Joe's brain is not a pretty place) and dark, so dark. It dragged a little bit for me about 3/4 through (it's a pretty long book), but picked up very quickly as it neared the end.
In the end, I found this book to be amazingly intense. I continued to have complicated feelings for Joe up until the last pages. The novel is certainly a warning about our digital age and how easy it is to have your digital footprint (and subsequent actual life) invaded. It's also a twisted story of obsession. It will keep you turning the pages late into the night (with the curtains CLOSED). More at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com
Oh my, I have some mixed feelings about this book, but ultimately wound up rating it 4 stars simply because I just couldn't put it down, and I don't think I will stop thinking about it anytime soon. I actually found myself feeling suspicious of other people during and after reading it, as if being watched -- that's how good Kepnes was at weaving her tale of stalking and obsession. Joe is a fascinating character, and you become almost immediately sucked into his delusions. The book is told from his point of view, and it's written as if he's speaking directly to Beck. Once you become used to that, it's compulsively readable.
This is not a book full of characters with whom you will love and empathize. Now I admit that there were times that Joe felt so normal that you forgot he's basically batshit insane, and sometimes Beck herself (the victim, you have to remind yourself) is pretty terrible, too. This is a book about awful people doing terrible things to everyone in their lives. It's dirty (Joe's brain is not a pretty place) and dark, so dark. It dragged a little bit for me about 3/4 through (it's a pretty long book), but picked up very quickly as it neared the end.
In the end, I found this book to be amazingly intense. I continued to have complicated feelings for Joe up until the last pages. The novel is certainly a warning about our digital age and how easy it is to have your digital footprint (and subsequent actual life) invaded. It's also a twisted story of obsession. It will keep you turning the pages late into the night (with the curtains CLOSED). More at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com
You is my favorite book of all time. Joe is a surprisingly likeable character that the readers will form quite the connection to. I love Kepnes' blunt writing style as it really fits the story and its characters.
I really enjoyed this book. Joe, who is telling the story, is a great character. He falls for a girl who speaks to him in the bookstore where he works and stalks her. The best thing is, is that you totally get it. It makes sense for him to steal her phone, read her email, and go after her friends.
This book moves along at a good pace, it doesn't drag. And I was always excited to see what would happen next. A book of complicated people in complicated places.
This book moves along at a good pace, it doesn't drag. And I was always excited to see what would happen next. A book of complicated people in complicated places.
Dark, masterful, and timely, debut novelist Caroline Kepnes' You is a perversely romantic thriller that's more dangerously clever than any you've read before. A chilling account of unrelenting passion, this tale of love, sex, and death will stay with you long past the final page.
I saw a lot of people like YOU but this book is not for me. I would not call myself a prude but YOU is full of nothing but explicit sex and language - too much for me! I would not recommend this book to anyone but I would tell them to beware before reading it as it is about an obsessive stalker and is very intense.
I saw a lot of people like YOU but this book is not for me. I would not call myself a prude but YOU is full of nothing but explicit sex and language - too much for me! I would not recommend this book to anyone but I would tell them to beware before reading it as it is about an obsessive stalker and is very intense.
I hated this book!
Joe works in a bookstore and when Beck walks in, he's out of his mind obsessed,with her!
He finds out where she lives when he swipes her credit card and social media tells him everything he wants to know. He starts stalking her, determined to have her as his own.
Beck lives in upscale East Village in a "postage stamp" apartment on the ground floor; windows are always open along with the curtains. Anyone walking by can see what she is doing, and of course, Joe watches day and night. He watches her walk around naked, watches as she mounts a pillow, watches her have sex with her boyfriend and is furious. Something has to be done about this obstacle standing in his way.
SPOILER
the story unfolds as Joe manages to lock boyfriend Benji in a cage where he eventually dies.
This is when I stopped reading this book. I was repulsed, found it unbelievable and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The story was dark and unsettling and just not for me.
Joe works in a bookstore and when Beck walks in, he's out of his mind obsessed,with her!
He finds out where she lives when he swipes her credit card and social media tells him everything he wants to know. He starts stalking her, determined to have her as his own.
Beck lives in upscale East Village in a "postage stamp" apartment on the ground floor; windows are always open along with the curtains. Anyone walking by can see what she is doing, and of course, Joe watches day and night. He watches her walk around naked, watches as she mounts a pillow, watches her have sex with her boyfriend and is furious. Something has to be done about this obstacle standing in his way.
SPOILER
the story unfolds as Joe manages to lock boyfriend Benji in a cage where he eventually dies.
This is when I stopped reading this book. I was repulsed, found it unbelievable and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The story was dark and unsettling and just not for me.
